Oxford wants to remove Homer and Virgil from Classics syllabus

Oxford University could remove Homer and Virgil from the compulsory Classics syllabus as part of a diversity drive, it has emerged. Homer’s epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are considered central works of ancient Greek literature, while Virgil’s Aeneid is one of the most revered poems in Latin literature.

Without Homer, there would be no Virgil; without Virgil, no Dante, no Milton. Even for the iconoclastic T.S. Eliot, the Aeneid was ‘the classic of all Europe’.

The Spectator, 20 February 2020

Dr Daisy Dunn, a historian and author who read Classics at Oxford, said cutting the two poets would put all students at a disadvantage.